Beach Dreams

Ten years ago I met a chipper, extremely bright, and enthusiastic kid by the name of Trip Vest. Together we built soccer-playing robots out of drill motors, solenoids, and scavenged spare parts. Through the years, although we didn’t hang in the same circles and Trip moved to California while I bounced between Japan and New York City, we remained good friends and I always saw him with a smile on his face.

Eight years later, after manifesting my own destiny and relocating west, I was invited to a very special beach gathering on a secret San Francisco seashore. Trip, the mastermind behind the festivities, promised s’mores, groovy tunes, and a cord of firewood for “a ginormous bonfire.” We danced all night on the beach ‘till the sun crept up out of the ubiquitous Bay-area fog, and even though Trip was my only friend at the beginning of the event I left with many more.

Last month, a full two years after that wondrous summer gathering, I was both excited and honored to throw down grooves of my own to open and close the weekend on that magical seashore.

Here’s a snippet of my set from the evening as the sun tucked itself behind the waves.

Big love to Trip, Chris Skieller, P o p s t a c k, ForRast and the whole gang for putting together a beautiful event and welcoming me into their world.